08-05-2008, 01:08 PM
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When he had left Conri, the blonde had been well aware what he had suggested was wrong. Perhaps he would lead a boy to murder (though it would not be the first time for him, oh no) and cost a girl her life—this did not perturb him, as it long ago might have. Ahren was not surprised by his apathy. His sympathy for strangers had been lost long ago, over the sea and far away. He had lost some other things there too, but since returning here one had come back with startling force; the bells and the line and the instinct that had long ago had another name.
The bells had begun ringing as he neared the forest. A gossamer, flickering trail had come next. Ahren had followed it until the sound and the sight were replaced by something stronger—a sickly sweet smell that was mingled with his son’s scent. It was sickness, that much he knew. He didn’t know how bad it was until he spotted the boy, laying on the ground. A deep impulse took him and Ahren was at the boy’s side in an instant, and pulling him up. “Easy,” he said, eyes bright with panic. “I’m here.”
When he had left Conri, the blonde had been well aware what he had suggested was wrong. Perhaps he would lead a boy to murder (though it would not be the first time for him, oh no) and cost a girl her life—this did not perturb him, as it long ago might have. Ahren was not surprised by his apathy. His sympathy for strangers had been lost long ago, over the sea and far away. He had lost some other things there too, but since returning here one had come back with startling force; the bells and the line and the instinct that had long ago had another name.
The bells had begun ringing as he neared the forest. A gossamer, flickering trail had come next. Ahren had followed it until the sound and the sight were replaced by something stronger—a sickly sweet smell that was mingled with his son’s scent. It was sickness, that much he knew. He didn’t know how bad it was until he spotted the boy, laying on the ground. A deep impulse took him and Ahren was at the boy’s side in an instant, and pulling him up. “Easy,” he said, eyes bright with panic. “I’m here.”